BICKELS [SOCIALISM] (Heinz Emigholz, G/Israel 2017) tours 22 buildings designed by Samuel Bickels in Israel, mostly for kibbutzim. Dining halls, children’s houses, agricultural buildings, bright structures are inserted into the Mediterranean landscape with great ingenuity. An architecture with a sell-by date: That many are now empty or have been repurposed at best is linked to the decline of the socialist ideals they embody. Paintings by Jewish artist Meir Axelrod from the Crimea in the 1930s form the epilogue. It tells the tragic story of the Vio Nova kibbutz, which first foundered under the British Mandate in Palestine and later fell victim to Stalinism, before being entirely liquidated during the German occupation. Followed by a discussion with Heinz Emigholz. (ct) (4.9.)
